Heroes are born in different ways.
My heroes were born on an old living room couch while I listened to my father talk about the days of hockey past. About the grit of Gordie Howe, the passion of Phil Esposito and the maddening grace and skill of an end to end rush by Bobby Orr.
My heroes were born around the kitchen table, their existance etched into my young mind as my mother described Maple Leafs of the 1960s and the games she attended, the roar of the Gardens, the unifying power of hockey.
My heroes were born on the TV screens and the front page of the newspaper. Gretzky's final wave to the crowd, Sakic smiling, the agony of a country's 50 year wait vanishing with the glint of gold around his neck, Sidney Crosby hollering for "Iggy" to pass before making himself immortal in the minds of Canadians.
These are where my hockey idols were born, in my mind, as the stories and events of these athletes captured my imagination. But what of those before the heroes? Before the founding fathers there were the pioneers, before Roman emperors there was Romulus and Remus and even in Greek mythology, there were the titans before the gods.
So who are hockey's trailblazers, its titans, its legends? Who are were the men and women that defined a game, who played a sport that experienced a nation's growing pains along with it? Who came before the Original Six and how did they shape a sport and history along side it?
That's what this blog is setting out want to discover.
And it all began with a spark that only the sound of a puck hitting the back of the net can kindle.
